


Jump Start

by melagan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Trope Bingo Round 15
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:54:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26670967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melagan/pseuds/melagan
Summary: Stuck in a crashed jumper, Rodney makes repairs while John helps warm things up.
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Comments: 24
Kudos: 69





	Jump Start

**Author's Note:**

> The story wouldn't have happened without the help and encouragement of goddess47 and spikespet7. Written for SGA_Saturday's Ice challenge and my trope bingo Huddle for Warmth square.
> 
> *

Ice crystals crawled across the puddle jumper's windscreen. They were expanding faster now, which meant—which meant it was fucking cold outside and the temperature was still dropping. 

Rodney rubbed his arms trying to keep warm. "John?"

"Right here, buddy." John threw a blanket over Rodney's shoulders. "No luck?"

"I'm sure I can fix it." He turned to look John in the eye. "I just don't know if I can fix it fast enough."

"You can. I know you, Rodney. You've got this. Now, tell me what I can do to help."

"Something hot to drink? Don't we have some of those thermal packs in storage? Maybe you could use that.

"I'll see what I can do." 

Ten minutes later John shoved a lukewarm coffee into his hands. It wasn't anywhere near as hot as Rodney would have liked, but right now it was ambrosia. He drained it in a few quick swallows, relishing its fleeting warm, before setting the empty cup down with a sigh. 

John, who had been trained—finally—not to screw with the arrangement of crystals spread out on the bench, just pointed at them and asked, "How much cold can these things take before we have a problem?"

"They should be fine," Rodney said, trying to sound positive. Should be fine, but they'd never been tested for this contingency and this stuff was old. Telling John, it was a hope not a certainty wouldn't do a damn thing to change the situation so he kept his doubts to himself. 

Hands stiff and red with cold Rodney stopped to blow on his fingers in a futile effort to warm them up. 

"Hey." John took Rodney's hands in his and rubbed them gently. "You'll get this. I know you will. Otherwise, we'll die a horrible death. We'll both be frozen like popsicles and it will be all your fault." 

Rodney pulled his hands away with a put-upon sigh. "I know what you're trying to do, Sheppard. You're forcing my brain to work to resolve an impossible life or death—oh. 

"Oh?" What, oh?"

"Not now. Yes! That could work!" Rodney forgot about his cold hands and began resetting the crystal interface. 

John watched over his shoulder. "How much longer?" 

Before he could respond, the heating system clicked on. John patted him on the shoulder. "I knew you could do it, buddy. Now, how about fixing those drive pods?"

"Two minutes. You couldn't give me two minutes to warm up first?" Rodney groused. "Besides, I thought you said the storm was too bad to fly in? Or were you planning on crashing again? Because I object to that plan."

"I just want to make sure everything is in working order when we need it." John smiled wearily. "C'mon, sit down and eat something. You'll feel better."

They sat on the bench, huddled under the blankets, and waited for the jumper to come up to a comfortable temperature.

Rodney mumbled between bites of his power bar, "Sometimes I hate my own genius. If it had taken me longer to fix, we could be huddling for warmth right now.

John's head snapped up. "What did you say?"

"Uh. Nothing?"

"No, I definitely heard something." John leaned back and studied him while Rodney squirmed under his too-knowing gaze. 

"Huddling for warmth?" John said, eyebrows raised. "Sounds a lot like cuddling to me."

Rodney winced. Crap. It looked like he couldn't talk his way out of this. 

"So, cuddling. Guess there's some people I wouldn't mind cuddling with," John said, gently tugging on Rodney's arm to pull him closer. "I have a genius buddy you know. He's got some pretty good ideas. If he says cuddling should be a thing, I'm inclined to agree."

"Oh. Really?" Rodney ducked his head and smiled into John's collarbone. "If he's such a genius you should probably listen to him then."

"Oh, I intend to." With a warm chuckle, John wrapped his arms around Rodney. "And I definitely think we should do this again. Only, next time, let's not go the crashed jumper route."

John's arms around him were warm and comforting in a way that felt like…he had no idea what it felt like. He just knew it made his insides melty. Damn it. Clearly, the cold had addled his brain and turned it into some kind of maudlin, soft-science disaster. He groaned.

"What?" John rubbed his back—and, god, that felt incredible. "Rodney? You okay?"

"No crashing necessary," he mumbled. "Why didn't I think of that? And, maybe we could try this huddle-for-warmth thing without the freezing-our-asses off part, too?" Rodney suggested, too busy snuggling into John's arms to put any real snark behind it. 

No matter. John just held on and gently huffed against his ear, "I think that can be arranged."

~*~


End file.
